Torrential rains alongside the July 4th Holiday proved to be a dangerous mix for Georgia’s roadways this weekend.

From 6pm Wednesday to midnight Sunday, there were 785 car accidents with 374 injuries in the state, and out of those, ten people lost their lives. Unfortunately, the data does represent an increase from last year---a trend that Harris Blackwood, Director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, says he has seen represented in 2013’s numbers so far.

“We’re trending upward right now---not enough that were overly concerned, but it’s certainly enough that we think about it,” Blackwood says. “It’s difficult to say in the middle of the year what will happen for the rest of the year, you don’t know what the weather will be or what events will take place---but, at the same time, we’ve averaged about three people a day being killed in Georgia this year.

“We treat that sometimes, sadly, as just collateral damage. But, look around your table and at your family---how many would want to lose? You wouldn’t want to lose any of them.”

It was a deadly time for Northwest Georgia in-particular, where two people in Haralson County and another in Dalton were killed in traffic accidents.

As for drunk drivers, state troopers claim they charged more than 300 people with DUIs, initiating over 16,000 traffic stops across Georgia.